Article - ProfiTrace 2 - The ultimate PROFIBUS analyzer

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Date: August 2008

PROFIBUS Troubleshooting Toolkit

Troubleshooting and maintenance tools for PROFIBUS had their own history and evolution. It started with the simple busmonitors in the 90s that were based on PC cards to the more advanced analyzers in the beginning of 2004 that were based on USB and could offer statistics for an overview about the “health” of the installation. A giant leap forward is the incredible ProfiTrace 2. Finally, analysis of the signal quality, busmonitoring, topology scan, reporting and master activities can be carried out simultaneously on the same USB hardware. The technician can check and troubleshoot the complete PROFIBUS network with 1 software package and 1 piece of hardware. This results in an enormous reduction in equipment, weight, costs and required knowledge.

ProfiCore Ultra is the required hardware to use ProfiTrace 2. It translates PROFIBUS to USB and vice versa. It has an isolated RS 485 interface and is equipped with a high-speed digital oscilloscope that is able to capture bus signals running at 12 Mbps. It can also be used on PROFIBUS PA installations with the PA Probe Ultra. The ProfiTrace 2 software that runs on the ProfiCore is very user friendly and easy to use. Next to the message recorder, search and trigger menus, it has lots of powerful features:

Live List and Statistics
The Live List is a matrix that lists all the available devices. It is directly visible which devices are ‘troublemakers’. With different background colours the status of the devices is displayed. The Live List can also generate the product name of the devices when a diagnostic message is captured (synchronized with the GSD library). The statistics matrix is the most decisive feature of the analyzer. This field can really indicate how healthy the installation is. It displays all the important information that a user, especially a maintenance man, is really interested in: retry messages, fall-outs, cycle time, diagnostic messages, etc. The user does not have to inspect messages or do difficult operations to ensure the quality of the installation.

Integrated oscilloscope
The oscilloscope is used for the inspection of the signal quality. It runs immediately displaying all signals that are measured. The time base and voltage levels can easily be adjusted. By double-clicking on the devices in the Live List, the oscilloscope triggers on the respective device and only displays its signals. This is a perfect mode to inspect the signal quality for individual devices. By measuring the width of the reflections, the tool indicates the distance to the “problem”. A powerful feature of the oscilloscope is the Bit Interpretation Engine. It displays the bits that ProfiTrace detects on the bus. The end user can compare this with the signals that are measured with the oscilloscope and make a judgment about the signal quality (glitches).

Bar graph
The Bar graph illustrates an average amplitude level of the signals from all available devices. It is a helpful utility to get an overall signal quality of the network. The average signal amplitude should be around 5 V. When there are bus problems the Bar graph will display irregular Voltage levels and the colour of the bars will change.

Topology
scan ProfiTrace has the capability to generate the topology of the PROFIBUS network without shutting down the installation! The Topology scan creates a clear network drawing that contains the location of the devices and length of the cable that links them. It is a simple procedure: connect ProfiTrace to the working installation and with just 3 mouse clicks, the topology is generated. The topology is very helpful for troubleshooting. The oscilloscope can indicate what the distance to the problem is and the topology scan can pinpoint where you geographically have to look.

DP-V0/V1 Master
ProfiCaptain is a PROFIBUS DP-V0/DP-V1 class 1 and 2 master that has been designed for applications like: I/O tests, commissioning, parameterization and demonstrations. It fills the gaps that other products leave open and makes working with PROFIBUS a lot easier, faster and more fun. The main platform is a configuration environment in which the user can setup his slaves with the respective modules and parameters. For this master there is also an API available for programmers who would like to develop their own master application (DLL).

Reporting
The reporting feature creates a detailed report that contains the electrical signals of all devices, their faults, the topology, bar graph and administrative information. On the front page it gives a conclusion if the installation is approved or not.

This tool is very popular and has worldwide thousands of satisfied users. It displays the information in an understandable way, contains all required elements and is very compact. The software has no PC locked license codes or dongles. ProfiTrace 2 is a PROFIBUS tool for this era, that has been created by the experts of the PROCENTEC. It is suitable for everybody who is involved with this technology.

On the web you can find the manuals, brochures and download the software for evaluation or update: www.procentec.com/profitrace2